tale

noun

1
a
: a usually imaginative narrative of an event : story
b
: an intentionally untrue report : falsehood
always preferred the tale to the truthSir Winston Churchill
2
a
: a series of events or facts told or presented : account
b(1)
: a report of a private or confidential matter
dead men tell no tales
(2)
: a libelous report or piece of gossip
3
a
b
: total
4
obsolete : discourse, talk

Examples of tale in a Sentence

The movie is a stirring tale of courage. We listened to his familiar tale of woe as he talked again about the failure of his marriage. He told us thrilling tales about his adventures as a pilot in the war. Are you telling tales again? Or is that the truth?
Recent Examples on the Web The movie is, in many ways, a classic show-business tale of ambition, one that follows a young woman, Nomi Malone (Berkeley), who hitchhikes to Las Vegas with dreams of success. Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2024 Eggs in different baskets A look through Donaldson’s portfolio—married with recent events—may also provide a cautionary tale to aspiring creators. Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 15 Mar. 2024 This rambunctious tale of not-so-scary scary monsters is utterly charming, totally surreal, and wonderfully familiar. Ew Staff, EW.com, 14 Mar. 2024 Monkey Man is, on the surface, a fairly simple tale of vengeance: Man has vendetta. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 12 Mar. 2024 Greenberg does a fantastic job of bringing all the characters in this lengthy tale to life. Chris Wheatley, Longreads, 12 Mar. 2024 That’s what counts as a silver lining to this sorry tale. Sal Pizarro, The Mercury News, 12 Mar. 2024 Still, if the Manhattan Project was a cautionary tale, there was disagreement about what lesson to draw from it. Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024 After all, our science fiction is replete with AI beings, many of them tales of artificial intelligence gone horribly wrong. Boone Ashworth, WIRED, 9 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tale.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Old English talu; akin to Old Norse tala talk

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 4

Time Traveler
The first known use of tale was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near tale

Cite this Entry

“Tale.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tale. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

tale

noun
1
: something told
a tale of woe
2
: a story about an imaginary event
a fairy tale
3
: a false story : lie
4
: a piece of harmful gossip
spread tales about us

More from Merriam-Webster on tale

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